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Tuesday, The Wyoming legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee has sponsored a bill proposing tax relief for oil and gas companies in a bid to stimulate an increase in production. The bill, if approved, calls for tax exemption on oil production until the price of WTI reaches $45 per barrel. A year ago, Wyoming produced 102.1 million barrels of crude with 37 drilling rigs. “We’re recognizing that if [the] price is too low, companies are not going to come back anyway. So, we’re gonna set it at maybe a break-even to get a company over the hump to choose Wyoming over North Dakota, to choose Wyoming over New Mexico,” said the president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, Pete Obermueller, as quoted by Wyoming Public Media.

Oil well drilling in the United States has increased dramatically in the last five years. The increase in drilling activity has had a direct impact on petroleum pricing. Rig counts are an indicator for the potential supply picture of the oil and gas industry. A sharp increase in the number of drilling rigs domestically, would potentially affect the direction of product prices. The industry tends to speculate the greater number of active drilling rigs, the lower the price.